15 Best Tabletop RPGs For Fans Of Dungeons & Dragons

Bubblegumshoe

People who want to take a break from normal dungeon crawling and instead solve different puzzles will enjoy Bubblegumshoe’s story-driven and easy-to-understand features. This sounds like a pretty fun turn-based role-playing game. In Bubblegumshoe, players are teen detectives who have to solve the most mundane or complicated crimes in the town.

This game is very interesting because it has a realistic setting and resource management, so players can solve puzzles almost anywhere, from small classes to big towns, without feeling too overloaded. The TTRPG is a mystery/teen noir game, and it lets players build complex webs of connections that give them a lot of room to figure out goals, reasons, patterns, and even alibis.

Feng Shui 2

Even though it came out in 1999, Feng Shui 2 is still very popular with action movie fans, especially those who like Hong Kong-style movies where martial arts are mixed with deep conversation and interesting plots to make for a very interesting movie experience. Just the concept is interesting. Through portals, players can go to different times and places, such as the Tang Dynasty, the Opium Wars, current Hong Kong, and even places after the end of the world.

In addition, these places have plots and characters that are like those in action movies, with a focus on both pure action and martial arts that flow well in movies. What’s interesting about Feng Shui 2 is how easy it is to play. The game uses simple dice with six sides (called “1d6s”) and adds the results to the characters’ skills and traits. This makes it much easier to use martial arts and other skills.

Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game

It shouldn’t be a surprise that a world as big as Azeroth would draw people who play TTRPGs.With an approved set of rules and tools, Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game brings the game into the world of TTRPGs. If you like Dungeons & Dragons, you’ll really enjoy Warcraft RPG. This is because it uses the Open Gaming License, which means that D&D’s famous D20 System will be used a lot of the time.

The world in Warcraft RPG is what makes it so appealing. Players can go on adventures around the world that can change the direction of history. The game takes place right after the Alliance was formed and the Horde and Burning Legion became bigger threats. And because the MMORPG has a lot of Warcraft lore, players can act out plots and see if they could make different choices.

Dragon Age RPG

Because Thedas is such a deep world, it makes sense that Dragon Age fans would want big TTRPG adventures to take place there. The good news is that Dragon Age RPG has a whole set of tools made just for this, along with simple rules that make this TTRPG very easy to learn.

The TTRPG’s use of Thedas as a huge setting for different adventures is what makes it interesting. Players can save the world or become famous as fighters, magic, or bad guys. It’s fun to make your own teams because each class has its own set of strengths and powers. You can use your archetypes’ skills in and out of battle thanks to the game’s open systems.

Index Card

Index Card is one of the easiest and most flexible TTRPG systems out there, which fits with its simple name. Like games like Fate and GURPS, Index Card tries to make a system that focuses on stories and has features that are adaptable enough for players to use in different situations and types of stories.

Index Card is cool because it gives you a quick way to start campaigns and one-shots right away. Its simple “skills-that-matter” approach to toolkits lets players quickly come up with character models and highlight their natural strengths, which can lead to quick and fun stories.

Fiasco

Fiasco is easy enough that players who want to loosen up and be creative in short one-shot games would enjoy it. Firebase doesn’t need a Game Master like most TTRPGs do. At its core, Fiasco lets players act out their favorite type of “caper-gone-wrong” movie. As an example, the players could be different people who are all trying to steal the same item but fail because of their own plans.

For Fiasco, you don’t need to do much to get ready. A lot of the time, players will make up story points as they go along. Each player chooses a character, a type of interaction, the wants of their character, as well as possible items and places of interest. Fiasco’s rules say that each player must act out a scene. It’s interesting that other players decide whether that player wins or fails in the scene, and other cards can lead to surprises. A player only really wins Fiasco if they can tell a story that is interesting, entertaining, or incredibly funny.

Pathfinder

Pathfinder started out as an Open Game License update for Dungeons & Dragons 3.5e, but it grew into its own tabletop role-playing game. There is now a second version of Pathfinder, which is a simpler game than Dungeons & Dragons. Pathfinder is good for players because it takes things like action economy and even stats in a more clear way, making the game easier to understand and more fun to play.

Pathfinder players can make their own worlds, just like Dungeons & Dragons players can. Combat techniques and character development, on the other hand, are where things change a lot. Pathfinder will not have different types of actions, but rather actions that cost points and come from a small pool of actions. This will make plays easier. It’s also easier to play the role of other people because all skills grow based on stats and player level. Pathfinder is a good example for Dungeons & Dragons players who want to try switching up the rules.

Star Trek Adventures

Star Trek Adventures is a great game for people who like to take risks and go where no one has gone before. If you want a sci-fi turn-based RPG, Adventures has a lot to offer, especially since it’s based on one of the biggest sci-fi titles out there. When you play Adventures, you become an officer in Starfleet and work with Captain Kirk, Picard, or another captain to stop black holes, stop alien civil wars, and protect the Federation from many dangers.

Now, Star Trek fans can finally go on their own adventures in all the different parts of the world. Also, die-hard Trek fans can change episodes of any show to fit sessions in Adventures (there are a few hundred episodes, would anyone really know where the ideas came from?) — and let their players become real crew members of the Enterprise or a famous ship that is still being built.

Masks

It’s just another day in Halcyon City when superheroes and bad guys fight. Players also take charge of a group of young superheroes in Masks: A New Generation, letting them choose their own paths. People who play this superhero TTRPG can finally make their Marvel or DC Universe dreams come true. Masks also lets you make superheroes without having to do much, which is different from other RPG systems.

People who play Masks make their superheroes based on “basic” or “playbook” superheroes. These people have secret identities (the Janus), are antiheroes (the Reformed), or are super agents (the Soldier). Masks’ level of freedom can also inspire players to make their own superheroes or just play as ones they looked up to as kids.

Leverage: The Roleplaying Game

This TTRPG from 2010 is based on the TNT show Leverage, which ran from 2008 to 2012. Also, the heist drama adds action-comedy twists to shows like Ocean’s and more serious caper stories. But Leverage: The RPG shows off the best parts of the show and lets players and fans fully control their stories. Leverage: The RPG is great for people who want to play current Robin Hood stories, but it’s not as exciting as other heist games like Blades.

In Leverage: The RPG, players put together a team by choosing one of five Roles, which are based on specializations among similar skill sets. With the Cortex Plus system, players can quickly and easily come up with creative solutions to issues they face during the heist. The team and the speaker trade “plot points” all the time to keep the stories exciting with the Flashback System. As a TTRPG based on the heist show, players can pick the main characters from the show to be on their team, and stories can be based on scenes of the show.

Cyberpunk Red

Cyberpunk 2077 fans know that the popular CD Projekt Red game is based on a TTRPG. As expected, Cyberpunk TRPG is set in a dystopian future where companies and cybernetics decide what happens to people. Cyberpunk is different from other TTRPGs because it requires players to solve problems between the different forces that live in a future world. As befits the genre it comes from, Cyberpunk pushes players to make a choice and change how they see people.

Cyberpunk has a lot of detail in terms of fighting and roleplaying, which Dungeons & Dragons fans will enjoy. After all, the game has different rules for fighting in real time and running on the Internet. As well, the game has detailed rules for cybernetics and computer programs, which science fiction fans will really enjoy.

Blades In The Dark

Blades in the Dark is more or less an urban fantasy game, though some people call it a heist RPG. People who played the first game might want their meetings to take place in Doskvol, an industrial world where thieves and magical beings live. But what makes Geometry Dash World unique is that it uses character playbooks and a fast-and-loose style of play that pushes players to make up new stories on the spot.

Also, Blades’ unique memory price makes for some interesting story points. In this way, players can either spend extra time and money planning the heist in detail before it happens or rely on their memories to help the heist go well. In either case, Blades is meant to help the writer give players a hard time where they still win in the end.

Legend Of The Five Rings

Because of Legend of the Five Rings, TTRPG fans can now take their journeys to Rokugan, a strange place. In the Legend of the Five Rings series, Rokugan is home to a society and culture that are like medieval Japan but also have parts of other Asian countries. In this game, players become samurai who are obedient to their masters and face mythical creatures and magic that are based on the stories of many Asian countries.

LOTFR players will enjoy Rokugan’s rich history and society, as well as the game’s unique take on roleplaying. Users must remember the outcomes of certain dice rolls, whether they are good or bad. This is called the “Roll & Keep” method. In addition, players depend on Five Rings, which have pairs of traits, to move forward in the game. In LOTFR, outcomes are important for moving the story forward, which is different from the TTRPG.

World Of Darkness

Fans who want to focus more on stories and personal stories will like how World of Darkness puts the focus on the characters. Players enter a darker version of the real world in this TTRPG. Conspiracies are today’s news, hidden groups are public knowledge, and monsters of the night walk the streets. World of Darkness is different from other role-playing games (RPGs) because it has separate rulebooks for each type of magical character that can exist in the same world.

Players can then go on adventures as Vampires, Werewolves, Mages, Hunters, or a mix of these characters. The World of Darkness can make conversation just as interesting as fighting thanks to a system that relies more on unique attribute-skill combinations. Players can spend hours achieving the same goal in a variety of ways, such as by using guns, being as quiet as the wind, or following the rules. Everyone can always find something to do in World of Darkness, as long as they’re okay with the dark.

Fate Core

You will love the Fate system if you really want a more open-ended TTRPG experience. It’s so flexible that there isn’t even a basic setting, and other RPGs use Fate as their source. Because of this, players can use Fate to make their own worlds without being limited by how other TTRPGs work.

Because you don’t have to roll a lot of dice, Fate is mostly about acting. Instead of normal traits, players say what “aspects” or special traits their characters are good at. So, characters are pretty much thought to be “average” in everything except the skills they say they have. This makes it easier to play different roles and show off character strengths. Fans of Dungeons & Dragons can use Fate to practice playing characters with both strong and weak stats.